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booksthatburn's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Delaney is a post-lingual Deaf girl who sometimes hears the shadows whispering. She gets into a university whose stated purpose is to teach its students to traverse between realities. Colton is a student who briefly died when he was a child, meeting Delaney briefly at the time. When they meet again on campus, she doesn’t recognize him but is drawn to him anyway, while he instantly knows her and can’t keep his distance. They begin spending time together, then the lines are blurred further when another student dies.
There’s a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who don’t know Delaney is deaf (because they didn’t read the emails alerting them). She’s navigating this new space and deciding how much she’d rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know she’s deaf. Whether she’s using her implant and what she does or does not hear is important throughout, and is used to great effect once things start getting spooky.
The worldbuilding is sparse, most of the details are atmospheric and unexplained until late in the book. The specific answers and explanations (when they finally arrived) wrapped up pretty much everything I wanted to know. I enjoy vibe-heavy books that leave me interested but confused for long stretches, so this was a deeply satisfying read for me. Colton’s secrets (and those he keeps for others) are hinted at but not revealed early, keeping the reader and Delaney equally in the dark for much of the story.
For a book with parallel worlds there aren’t many descriptions of traversals, though there are more towards the end. I like how much the focus is on Delaney piecing things together and trying to make it through her classes, and on her dynamic with Colton. I often enjoy books with mysterious and brooding guys, and this delivered.
Heavy on vibes, supported by a delicate but satisfying plot, don’t miss THE WHISPERING DARK.
There’s a consistent theme of ableism, mainly but not only from professors who don’t know Delaney is deaf (because they didn’t read the emails alerting them). She’s navigating this new space and deciding how much she’d rather deal with not being able to usefully hear in the moment or with overt ableism once people know she’s deaf. Whether she’s using her implant and what she does or does not hear is important throughout, and is used to great effect once things start getting spooky.
The worldbuilding is sparse, most of the details are atmospheric and unexplained until late in the book. The specific answers and explanations (when they finally arrived) wrapped up pretty much everything I wanted to know. I enjoy vibe-heavy books that leave me interested but confused for long stretches, so this was a deeply satisfying read for me. Colton’s secrets (and those he keeps for others) are hinted at but not revealed early, keeping the reader and Delaney equally in the dark for much of the story.
For a book with parallel worlds there aren’t many descriptions of traversals, though there are more towards the end. I like how much the focus is on Delaney piecing things together and trying to make it through her classes, and on her dynamic with Colton. I often enjoy books with mysterious and brooding guys, and this delivered.
Heavy on vibes, supported by a delicate but satisfying plot, don’t miss THE WHISPERING DARK.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Death
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Ableism, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Vomit, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cursing, Stalking, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Confinement, Toxic friendship, and Car accident
Minor: Dementia, Drug use, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Animal death, and Pregnancy
ttumbletree's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
i really really enjoyed this book!
i loved the representation in it, as well as the world it was set in and the characters different voices and especially their interactions (the amount of times i chuckled to myself and wrote the word “same” in this book is just…. a lot, okay? 😂)
the one thing i would’ve enjoyed a bit more is if more of the book had focused on lane’s relationship with her friends. i think it would’ve given her more agency and would’ve made their developing friendships feel a bit more natural ☺️ oh and there were just a lot of descriptions of colors where the author used flowers/plants as descriptors and it got a bit confusing at times… (there were a solid 50 pages throughout which i was struggling to understand what the mc’s eye color was… i enjoy flowery descriptions a lot, but i also enjoy understanding certain bits… like the eye color of the mc if it’s being pointed out this much.) but this feels more like a side note to me personally. (also in case your wondering, lane’s eyes are green… at least i think so 😂)
long story short, i really enjoyed the book and will definitely recommend it to friends and maybe even reread it one day.
a solid 4⭐️ read!
i loved the representation in it, as well as the world it was set in and the characters different voices and especially their interactions (the amount of times i chuckled to myself and wrote the word “same” in this book is just…. a lot, okay? 😂)
the one thing i would’ve enjoyed a bit more is if more of the book had focused on lane’s relationship with her friends. i think it would’ve given her more agency and would’ve made their developing friendships feel a bit more natural ☺️ oh and there were just a lot of descriptions of colors where the author used flowers/plants as descriptors and it got a bit confusing at times… (there were a solid 50 pages throughout which i was struggling to understand what the mc’s eye color was… i enjoy flowery descriptions a lot, but i also enjoy understanding certain bits… like the eye color of the mc if it’s being pointed out this much.) but this feels more like a side note to me personally. (also in case your wondering, lane’s eyes are green… at least i think so 😂)
long story short, i really enjoyed the book and will definitely recommend it to friends and maybe even reread it one day.
a solid 4⭐️ read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Grief, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Abandonment, Gore, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, and Dementia
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